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A
Public Health Action Plan to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke
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Section 1. Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention: Time for Action
Introduction: Planning for the Prevention of Heart Disease and Stroke
Heart disease and stroke
together exact a greater toll on America's health than any other condition.1
Early death, disability, personal and family disruption, loss of income
(more than $142 billion for 2003), and medical care expenditures (more than
$209 billion) are some indicators of this toll. Young and old, women and
men, rich and poor, and all racial and ethnic groups share this burden.
Moreover, we can expect even greater numbers of heart attacks and strokes,
increasing dependency (especially among the expanding population of older
Americans), and mounting costs of care for victims and their families unless
we as a nation renew and greatly intensify our public health effort to
prevent these conditions.
Heart attacks and strokes
can be prevented or delayed if the knowledge we already have is put into
action now. In fact, a broad coalition of national organizations and federal
health agencies have already adopted a comprehensive goal for preventing
heart disease and stroke as part of the Healthy People 2010 national
health goals.2 But having goals is only a beginning. Attaining
these goals requires a plan with specific recommendations and action steps
for implementing them. Today, we can build such an action plan on a solid
knowledge base resulting from decades of research on the causes and
prevention of heart disease and stroke, especially because of the support of
NIH and the American Heart Association.
For CDC, developing an
action plan for cardiovascular health (CVH) is critical for two compelling
reasons. First, CDC and NIH have been assigned responsibility as co–lead
agencies to head the nation's effort to attain the Healthy People 2010
goal for preventing heart disease and stroke.2 Second, Congress
charged CDC in 1998 to develop and implement state–based cardiovascular
disease prevention programs in every state and U.S. territory. These recent
mandates create a need and responsibility to formulate a long–range strategy
to guide the public health community in preventing heart disease and stroke.
Accordingly, in December 2001, CDC initiated a planning process that
included an intensive series of expert consultations as the basis for
developing this Action Plan.
Next Section: Heart Disease and Stroke:
Scope, Burden, Disparities, and a Forecast
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Date last reviewed:
05/12/2006
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke
Prevention,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion |
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